Every penny you raise helps us to continue our life-saving breast cancer research and raise breast cancer awareness.

And it really does make a difference. More women are surviving breast cancer than ever before. The five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer is now around 80 per cent, compared with 50 per cent in the 1970s.

How funds are spent

Here are just some examples of our work that donations from people like you can help to fund:

• £15.50 could buy around 500 glass microscope slides for studying cells and tumour samples.
• £182 could buy 1,500 plastic petri dishes.They're an essential resource for thousands of scientists who are working hard to understand cancer.
• £696 could support one of our PhD students for a week. At Cancer Research UK, we nurture talented young researchers as they train to become independent scientists.
• £1,200 could pay for one woman's participation in the IBIS II breast cancer prevention trial. It will help us find out whether the drug anastrozole can prevent breast cancer in post-menopausal women who are at increased risk of the disease.
• £6,000 could buy a safety cabinet scientists working with cell cultures use to stop contamination from germs in the air.

Real stories

"Breast cancer has been such a major part of my life and it is always at the back of my mind," said Emma who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 and then again at 31.

"But I feel better as each anniversary goes past since my diagnosis. Research into breast cancer is crucial to help more people survive."

Read Emma's story and other real stories from inspirational women who have survived breast cancer.

Find out more

Support our work to beat breast cancer by fundraising in your local area, joining a walk or buying our breast cancer awareness merchandise.

Download our special edition of the Cancer Research UK podcast, dedicated to breast cancer.

Visit our breast cancer section to find out more about the work we are doing and our current campaigns.